NYU Black Renaissance Noire Fall 2013 - Page 36

betty davis: The rhythm and the
simplicity. Someone like Lightnin’
Hopkins…it was just a guitar and
voice. John Lee Hooker, his early
records had just a bass and drums…
jh: …and often just a handful of words.
bd: Mm-hmm.
jh: Do you still listen to a lot of blues?
bd: I listen to a lot of Lightnin’
Hopkins. He’s my favorite!
jh: Does music play a big part in your
life these days?
bd: Well, most since I’ve gotten
older…I listen to music. The business
has changed significantly. I listen to
some contemporary things.
jh: Is there anyone in particular that
piques your interest?
bd: No… Well there’s that song that
Jay-Z and Alicia Keys sing. New York.
[“Empire State of Mind”]
jh: Do you see your influence on any
contemporary artists?
jh: I think hip-hop in some respects is
the closest thing to blues but even that
is coming out of a different experience
and speaking a different language. Do
you think that perhaps, it’s something
to do with the fact that your records
are also pretty musically adventurous?
It seems like you were even pushing
what was being done in funk music at
the time. We talk about the blues thing
but on Is It Love or Desire I hear so
many different things… There’s that
quiet tune “When Romance Says
Goodbye.” I don’t think people knew
you could sing like that.
bd: Mm.
jh: That’s one of the crimes of that
record not coming out in the 70s.
I think it would have opened people up
to more of what Betty Davis was about.
As such a diverse and progressive artist,
what are your feelings about where the
industry is now?
bd: I think music has changed so
considerably. You have pop music, which
was predominantly white music, but
now it’s African-American music, really.
jh: Or some dilution of it.
bd: [Long pause] Some songs I do,
others I don’t… I don’t think they’ve
got up to me yet.
bd: Yeah, it really is. And then you
have rock music…but you don’t have
any groups in it anymore.
jh: How true. Why do you think it’s
taken folks so long?
jh: So, you seem to have a pretty
even sense of the industry. Where did
your disillusionment with the music
business really come from and why do
you think you decided to ultimately
step away from the entertainment
industry as a whole?
jh: Do you mean creatively or
commercially?
bd: I mean creatively.
jh: Yeah, but you’re still singing and
writing and being creative for yourself
from what I’ve heard.
bd: Well, I still write but I don’t know
at anytime what I am going to do with
the material. I don’t know whether
I’ll go back into the studio to record
another album or whether I’ll give
my music to someone else to re